Exclusively breastfed babies - how long are you nursing for a day.

Honestly, lose the app 😄 With my first baby I drove myself mad tracking and timing feeds, and this time I'm not bothering. It's so much better not thinking about it, just feed on demand and don't worry about the time on the breast because it really doesn't matter, it doesn't tell you how much milk they're taking. Sometimes they guzzle a huge amount of milk in 5 mins and then unlatch, and sometimes they just want to spend ages on the breast for comfort even though they're not feeding, and that's perfectly normal. It will vary hugely and it doesn't tell you anything

Ok thanks - think I’m driving myself nuts over analysing 🙃

I’ve never used an app to be honest, but i agree with the above - just leave it to baby and go with the flow if you can! x

Agree with above. I obsessed over it with my firstborn and now I just let my daughter come on and off as she wants. I do take notice of when she starts feeding just so I know roughly when to expect or when to wake her for a feed if it’s been too long, but generally I just follow her cues

I only track because I am capping feeds at 15 mins per boob as I'm an undersupplier. It is helpful in that sense and for tracking diapers/feeding 24 hours before any peds visit.

@Charlie why do you cap?

I also deleted my app because I was stressing myself out so much. I. felt she wasn’t going long enough between feeds and that was impacting her sleep but realistically she was just a newborn being a newborn!

I second what Emma said. My first baby, I used to track all of his feeds and now with my second, I don’t bother. She’s putting weight on so that’s all that matters. Every baby is different so don’t read too much into what the ‘right thing’ is for babies

Feeding generally every 2/3 hours for anywhere between 5-40 minutes at a time but my boy does use me as a bit of a dummy as well. He’s also struggling with colic and will sometimes only sleep for an hour and then need to go back on the boob again for 5 mins to settle, but I think that’s more to hold in his mouth rather than feed 🤣 as long as baby is putting on weight and doesn’t seem hungry I wouldn’t worry, we have some days that are very different too! I do track on the app but mainly so if I need to speak to anyone I can check when they ask me like how long he feeds for, when his last feed was, nappy output etc because my memory is awful 🤣

I used an app and I thought it was giving me peace of mind, and whilst I liked the information of how often and how long he was feeding I'd been advised to drop the app and I did. I also dropped the expectation of feeding looking a certain way or taking a certain time. I realise looking back it was an additional stress timing feeds and getting obsessed with the timing. We're 6 weeks in now, it's not been smooth but we're still breast feeding. I've got support from the infant feeding team as well as an IBCLC and been to a supoort group which have all helped. What's helped me most practically is using the koala hold, figuring out a deeper latch with the flipple, using breast compressions when baby gets sleepy at the breast and switch nursing occasionally.

My baby is two weeks too! 😄 I was using the app but the other day whilst baby was crying and I was frantically trying to find my phone thought ‘fuck this’ and stopped tracking and it’s been way less stressful😂💖 I use the hairband method to know which boob I did last and still feed whenever he shows signs of hunger (usually about 15 times a day and night and for 10-25 mins at a time). Every baby is different and you got this 😊

I don’t use an app but some days I feel like I feed all day and other days not so much, just depends what she’s like day to day, sometimes I feel like I’m trying desperately to feed her because my boobs have got so full I need her to let them down 😂